Councillor 'tried to pick a fight' - election rival (From South Wales Guardian)

Councillor 'tried to pick a fight' - election rival

8:00am Wednesday 13th March 2013 in News

A RETIRED Llandybie builder claims a local county councillor called him “a little ****” before inviting him into a field to “sort out our differences”.

The alleged incident involving Nigel Humphreys and Cllr Anthony Davies happened last August, but only emerged during a recent meeting of Llandybie Community Council’s planning committee.

Mr Humphreys, 68, and his wife Jacque, who have been engaged in a lengthy legal dispute with Carmarthenshire County Council over their restoration of Felin Wen Mill, were lobbying councillors over their retrospective planning application.

But members were taken aback to learn of what Mrs Humphreys termed “a very distasteful” incident involving her husband and Cllr Davies, who was not present at the meeting.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Humphreys – who unsuccessfully contested the Llandybie seat at lastMay’s local elections – suggested the ill-feeling dated back to the election count where Cllr Davies polled 909 votes to his rival’s188.

“I was sitting on a bench in Llandybie Square eating an ice cream when Anthony came up, swore at me and asked why I hadn’t gone up on the podium and shaken hands with him on election night,” Mr Humphreys told the Guardian.

“He then suggested that the two of us go into a field to sort out our differences.

“He was trying to egg me on, hoping that I would hit him, but I wouldn’t take the bait.” Mr Humphreys said he immediately reported the matter to the police.

Cllr Davies said he would not “lower” himself by responding to the accusations.

“He can say what he likes,” he said. “This is a man with massive grievances against the county council.

“I polled the secondhighest number of votes in the county last May – those figures show the respect in which I’m held by the public.”

Mr Humphreys, who said the two men had previously had “a couple of run-ins” at Pact meetings, added Cllr Davies would not be getting his vote if he stood again in 2017. “Frankly, I’d rather vote for a donkey,” he commented.

A Dyfed-Powys Police spokeswoman confirmed a report had been received.

“Officers attended and found there had been previous incidents involving both parties, therefore both were spoken to and it was established that no offences had taken place and suitable words of advice were given regarding future conduct,” she added.